1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a floating eyeglass retainer and a method of preventing eyeglasses from sinking in water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One continuous hazard which has long existed for people who wear eyeglasses and engage in activities near or upon a body of water is the eve present danger that their eyeglasses will fall into the water and become irretrievably lost. Eyeglasses are formed of glass or plastic lenses which are held within a frame that has a pair of temples extending rearwardly from the lenses. The extremities of the temples remote from the lenses are turned downwardly to form a pair of eyeglass frame bows.
Some people are forced to wear eyeglasses having prescription lenses so as to correct defective vision Other people wear eyeglasses with tinted lenses, such as sunglasses, which may or may not have prescription lenses so as to reduce eyestrain by shading the ambient light and by cutting the glare of the sun on a body of water. In either case the construction of conventional eyeglasses is such that the eyeglasses will promptly sink to the bottom of a body of water if they accidentally fall into the water. Eyeglasses are frequently lost from boats, piers and docks in this manner. The expense of replacing eyeglasses which have sunk irretrievably beneath the surface of a body of water is considerable, both for prescription and nonprescription eyeglasses.
Various eyeglass leashes have been devised to attempt to prevent eyeglasses from inadvertently falling into the water and becoming lost. One type of eyeglass leash employs an elastic band that terminates in plastic fasteners which grip the bows of the eyeglass frame. The elastic band passes around the back of a person's head to hold the eyeglasses in position on a person's face. This type of eyeglass retainer is somewhat uncomfortable, since the elastic band causes the frames of the eyeglasses to be pressed against the nose and forehead of a person's face. Also, the plastic fasteners at the end of the elastic band frequently become brittle with exposure to the sun and will break.
Another type of conventional eyeglass retainer employs an inelastic cord which terminates in loops at both ends that can be cinched about the temples of eyeglass frames. The cord passes loosely about the back of a person's head and does not press the eyeglass frames against the face of the wearer. Yet another type of conventional eyeglass retainer is formed of an elongated, flexible, resilient hollow tube constructed of rubber or neoprene. The ends of the tube are inserted onto the ends of the eyeglass frame bows so that the tube passes about the back of the head of the wearer.
Eyeglasses can still be dislodged from the face of the wearer even if the conventional types of eyeglass retainers are employed. Flapping flags and sails, moving lines and boat rigging and even gusts of wind can cause eyeglasses to be plucked from the face of a wearer and cast into the sea. None of the conventional types of eyeglass retainers will prevent the eyeglasses from thereupon sinking to the bottom of a body of water into which they have fallen.